Medium transporting mechanism and medium processing apparatus having the same

ABSTRACT

A medium transporting mechanism for transporting one of stacked media each of which has a hole is provided. A holder is provided on a movable transporting arm and holds the one of the media. A guide is provided in the transporting arm, the guide has a tapered surface that is inclined with respect to an axis of the guide. The tapered surface is configured to be brought into contact with an inner surface of the hole of the one of the media when the guide is inserted into the hole of the one of the media. The tapered surface includes a first surface on a tip end portion of the guide and a second surface on a base end portion of the guide. An inclined angle of the first surface with respect to the axis of the guide is greater than an inclined angle of the second surface with respect to the axis of the guide.

Priority is claimed to Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-008349 filedJan. 17, 2008, the disclosure of which, including the specification,drawings and claims, is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a medium transporting mechanism capableof transporting disc-shaped media such as CDs or DVDs and a mediumprocessing apparatus equipped with the medium transporting mechanism.

In recent years, a medium processing apparatus such as a discduplication apparatus has been used to write data in media such as blankCDs or DVDs or a CD/DVD publisher has been used to write data andperforms label printing to prepare and issue media.

As such a medium processing apparatus, for example, there is a knowndisc processing apparatus equipped with a disc holding mechanism thatholds and transports a disc for a processor to write data performprinting on the disc (for example, see Japanese Patent Publication No.2006-202379 A).

Before processing such as writing data, the discs are accommodated in astacker in a stacked manner. In this case, since the discs stacked inthis manner are accommodated randomly in the stacker, the centerlocation of each disc is readily deviated from the center of each discpicked up by a disc holding mechanism.

For that reason, the disc processing apparatus is provided with a guide,which includes a movable head having a tapered portion gradually narrowstoward a tip end thereof, and the guide is inserted into the centralholes of discs to align the discs.

Here, a large force is required to move the guide, as the guide isbrought into contact with the central holes of the second and subsequentdiscs, because a load is increased in the discs other than the uppermostdisc due to a frictional force or a contact force between upper andlower discs.

In this case, when the inclined angle of the tapered portion withrespect to the axis of the guide is made small, a variation of thediameter of the guide with respect to a downward movement amount of thedisc holding mechanism is decreased. Therefore, even when the guide isbrought into contact with a plurality of discs subsequent to the seconddisc, the discs are able to be moved with a large force.

However, when the inclined angle of the tapered portion with respect tothe axis of the guide is made small, a protrusion size of the guide isincreased, thereby reduces the mobility of the disc holding mechanism orincreases in the size of the disc processing apparatus.

SUMMARY

It is therefore an object of at least one embodiment of the invention toprovide a medium transporting mechanism capable of suppressing anincrease in the size thereof, achieving good mobility, and positioningstacked media easily and smoothly, and to provide a medium processingapparatus equipped with the medium transporting mechanism.

According to an aspect of at least one embodiment of the invention,there is provided a medium transporting mechanism for transporting oneof stacked media each of which has a hole, the medium transportingmechanism comprising: a movable transporting arm; a holder that isprovided in the transporting arm and holds the one of the media; and aguide that is provided in the transporting arm and has a taperedsurface, which is inclined with respect to an axis of the guide, whereinthe tapered surface is configured to be brought into contact with aninner surface of the hole of the one of the media when the guide isinserted into the hole of the one of the media so that a center of theone of the media is positioned at the axis of the guide; wherein thetapered surface includes a first surface at a tip end side of the guideand a second surface at a base end side of the guide; and wherein aninclined angle of the first surface with respect to the axis of theguide is greater than an inclined angle of the second surface withrespect to the axis of the guide.

According to the media transporting mechanism having the above-describedconfiguration, each medium is able to be considerably moved in a planardirection by the first surface having the greater inclined angle withrespect to the axis of the guide and then each medium is able to beexactly aligned in the planar direction by the second surface having asmaller inclined angle with respect to the axis of the guide. In thisway, it is possible to position the media satisfactorily, whileminimizing protrusion of the guide.

That is, it is possible to minimize an increase in the size of themedium transporting mechanism, achieve good mobility, and position thestacked media easily and smoothly.

A dimension of the first surface in a direction parallel to the axis ofthe guide may be equal to or smaller than a thickness of the one of thestacked media.

According to this configuration, each medium is able to be smoothlypositioned, since the maximum number of media brought into contact withthe first surface, where a load for moving each medium increases, is setto one.

A dimension of the second surface in a direction parallel to the axis ofthe guide may be equal to or smaller than a thickness of two of thestacked media.

According to this configuration, each medium is able to be smoothlypositioned, since the maximum number of media in contact with the secondsurface, where a load for moving each medium increases, is set to two.

The holder may be configured to be brought into contact with the innersurface of the hole to hold the one of the media.

The holder may include a plurality of holding member that are disposedaround the axis of the guide.

The guide may be formed into a circular truncated cone shape of which adiameter gradually narrows from the base end toward the tip end thereof.

The guide may be formed into a circular cone shape of which a diametergradually narrows from the base end to the tip end thereof.

The medium transporting mechanism may further comprise a stacker thataccommodates the media in a stacked manner.

The guide may be inserted into the hole of the one of the media when thetransporting arm is moved down.

According to another aspect of at least one embodiment of the presentinvention, a medium processing apparatus comprising: a processor that isoperable to at least one of read data from, write data on, and executeprinting on the medium; and the above-described medium transportingapparatus that transports the one of the stacked media to the processor.

According to the media processing apparatus having the aboveconfiguration, it is possible to provide the medium processing apparatuswith high processing reliability, since the media processing apparatusincludes the medium transporting mechanism capable of surely positioningand holding each medium.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The advantages of the present invention and exemplary embodimentstherefor are described in detail with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an outer appearance of apublisher (a media processing apparatus) according to at least oneembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the publisher in view of afront side in a state where a case of the publisher is removed;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the publisher in view from arear side in a state where a case of the publisher is removed;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a printer equipped with thepublisher;

FIG. 5 is a plan view illustrating a transporting arm;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the transporting arm;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the part of the transportingarm viewed from a lower side;

FIG. 8 is a back side view illustrating the part of the transportingarm;

FIG. 9 is a side view illustrating the part of the transporting arm;

FIGS. 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10D are sectional views illustrating that thetransporting arm receives a medium; and

FIGS. 11, 12, 13, and 14 are sectional views illustrating that thetransporting arm receives the medium.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a medium transporting mechanism and a medium processingapparatus equipped with the medium transporting mechanism according toan embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, a publisher 1 is a media processing apparatus thatwrites data on circular plate-shaped media such as CDs or DVDs orperforms printing on a label surface of the media and includes asubstantially rectangular parallelepiped case 2. Openable door 3 and 4capable of being opened and closed right and left are disposed on afront surface of the case 2. An operation surface 5 provided withdisplays, operation buttons, and the like is formed on an upper left endof the case 2. On a lower end of the case 2, leg portions 6 protrudingdownward are provided on right and left sides. A drawing mechanism 7 isprovided between the right and left leg portions 6.

As shown in FIG. 2, the openable door 3 that is disposed on the rightside in view of the front side opens and closes an opening 8 on thefront side of the publisher 1. The openable door 3 is a door that isopened and closed when unprocessed media M are set through the opening 8or processed media M are taken out through the opening 8, for example.

In addition, the openable door 4 that is disposed on the left side inview of the front side is opened and closed when ink cartridges 12 of alabel printer 11 (shown in FIG. 3) are replaced. When the openable door4 is opened, a cartridge mounting unit 14 having plural cartridgeholders 13 arranged in a vertical direction is exposed.

Inside the case 2 of the publisher 1, a media stacker 21 as a mediastorage unit capable of stacking plural sheets (for example, 50 sheets)of unprocessed media M, which are not subjected to data writing, and amedia stacker 22 as a media storage unit capable of stacking pluralsheets (for example, 50 sheets) of unprocessed media M or processedmedia M are disposed vertically so that central axis of the stored mediaM are the same. The media stacker 21 and the media stacker 22 aredetachably mounted at predetermined locations, respectively.

The upper media stacker 21, which includes a pair of right and left arcframe plate 24 and 25, receives the media M from an upper side andconcentrically stacks the media M. A process of stacking orsupplementing media M in the media stacker 21 can be simply carried outby opening the openable door 3 and taking out the media stacker 21.

The lower media stacker 22 has the same configuration as the upper mediastacker 21. That is, the lower media stacker 22, which includes a pairof right and left arc frame plate 27 and 28, receives the media M fromthe upper side and concentrically stacks the media M.

A medium transporting mechanism 31 is disposed on a rear side of themedia stackers 21 and 22. The medium transporting mechanism 31 includesa vertical guide shaft 35 extending vertically between a main body frame30 and a top plate 33 of a chassis 32. A transporting arm 36 issupported by the vertical guide shaft 35 so as to move up and down androtate. The transporting arm 36 is driven by a driving moter 37 to moveup and down along the vertical guide shaft 35 and driven by a drivingmotor 10 to rotate right and left about the vertical guide shaft 35 (seeFIG. 5 and described below).

On a rear of a side portion of the upper media stacker 21, the lowermedia stacker 22, and the medium transporting mechanism 31, two mediadrives 41 stacked vertically are disposed. In addition, a carriage 62 ofthe label printer 11, which is described below, is movably disposed on alower side of the media drives 41.

The media drives 41 are each provided with a media tray 41 a thatadvances and retreats between a location where data are written on themedia M and a location where the media M are received and the media Mare granted and received.

The label printer 11 includes a media tray 45 capable of moving betweena printing location where label printing is performed on a label surfaceof the media M and the location where the media M is received and themedia M are granted and received.

FIG. 3 shows that the media trays 41 a of the upper and lower mediadrives 41 are drawn forward to be positioned at the location where themedia are granted and received and the media tray 45 of the lower labelprinter 11 is positioned at the location where the media are granted andreceived. In addition, the label printer 11 is an ink-jet printer anduses the ink cartridges 12 of respective colors (six colors of black,cyan, magenta, yellow, light cyan, and light magenta in this embodiment)as an ink supply mechanism 60. The ink cartridges 12 are mounted onrespective cartridge holders 13 of the cartridge mounting unit 14 from afront side.

Here, spaces where the transporting arm 36 of the medium transportingmechanism 31 moves up and down are formed between the pair of right andleft frame plates 24 and 25 of the media stacker 21 and between the pairof right and left frame plates 27 and 28 of the media stacker 22. Inaddition, a space where the transporting arm 36 of the mediumtransporting mechanism 31 rotates horizontally and is positioneddirectly above the media stacker 22 is formed between the upper mediastacker 21 and the lower media stacker 22. In addition, when both themedia trays 41 a enter the media drives 41, the transporting arm 36 ofthe medium transporting mechanism 31 moved down to gain access to themedia tray 45 positioned at the location where the media are granted andreceived.

The transporting arm 36 of the medium transporting mechanism 31 iscapable of moving down lower than the height location of the media tray45 in a state where both the media trays 41 a are positioned at thelocation where data are written and the media tray 45 is positioned atthe inward printing location. In addition, below the location of themedia tray 45 where the media are granted and received, a guide hole 65in which a media stacker (separate stacker) described below is formed asa guide hole for passing the media M, which are released by thetransporting arm 36 moving down, up to the location.

The drawing mechanism 7 includes a drawing tray 70 capable of drawingand opening the media from the main body frame 30 or receiving andclosing the media in a lower portion of the main body frame 30. In thedrawing tray 70, a stacker unit 71 is formed in a concave shape in adownward direction. When the drawing tray 70 is positioned at areceiving location (close location), the stacker unit 71 is positionedbelow the guide hole 65 and the center of the stacker unit 71 ispositioned so that central axes of both the media tray 41 a and themedia tray 45 at the location where the media are granted and receivedare the same. The stacker unit 71 receives the media M inserted throughthe guide hole 65 and receives a relatively small number (for example, 5sheets to 10 sheets) of the media M. The stacker unit 71 receives themedia M from the upper side to concentrically stack the media M.

In addition, when the media M received in the stacker unit 71 is drawnout, an operator hangs a lock portion 200 (see FIG. 2) formed in a frontsurface of the drawing tray 70 with fingers to draw the drawing tray 70from the main body frame 30.

In the stacker unit 71 of the drawing tray 70 that is in a receivedstate and the guide hole 65, a media stacker (separate stacker) 72capable of receiving more media M than the stacker unit 71 is detachablymounted (see FIG. 3). The media stacker 72 which also includes a pair ofarc frame plates 73 and 74 receives the media M from the upper side andis configure to receive plural sheets (for example, 50 sheets) of mediaM so as to concentrically stack the media M. A space where thetransporting arm 36 of the medium transporting mechanism 31 moves up anddown is formed between a pair of the arc frame plates 73 and 74. Inaddition, a grip 75 for a user to attach and detach the stacker isprovided above the frame plate 74.

In a state where the media stacker 72 is attached, the unprocessed mediaM are taken out from the upper media stacker 21 to allow the media drive41 and the label printer 11 to perform data recording and printing, andthen the media M can be received in the media stacker 72.

For example, the maximum number (50 sheets+50 sheets) of the unprocessedmedia M are loaded in the upper media stacker 21 and the lower mediastacker 22, and all the sheets (50 sheets) of the media M loaded in thelower media stacker 22 are processed in succession to be received in themedia stacker 72. Next, all the sheets (50 sheets) of the media M loadedin the upper media stacker 21 are processed in succession to be receivedin the vacant lower media stacker 22. In this way, the maximum number(50 sheets+50 sheets) of the media M loaded in the upper media stacker21 and the lower media stacker 22 are processed at one time (batchprocessing mode).

In a state where the media stacker 72 is separated, the unprocessedmedia M are taken out from the upper media stacker 21 or the lower mediastacker 22 to allow the media drive 41 and the label printer 11 toperform data recording and printing, and then the media M can bereceived in the stacker unit 71 of the drawing tray 70 in the receivedstate.

With such a configuration, the processed media M can be taken out fromthe stacker unit 71 by drawing the drawing tray 70. That is, even whilethe media M are processed, one sheet or plural sheets of the processedmedia M can be sequentially taken out with the openable door 3 closed(outside discharge mode).

Here, by combination operations of upward movement, downward movement,right rotation, and left rotation of the transporting arm 36, the mediaM are appropriately transported among the media stacker 21, the mediastacker 22, the stacker unit 71 (or the media stacker 72) of the drawingtray 70, the media tray 41 a of each media drive 41, and the media tray45 of the label printer 11.

As shown in FIG. 4, the label printer 11 is provided with the carriage62 that includes an ink-jet head 61 having nozzles (not shown) for inkejection. The carriage 62 reciprocates in a horizontal direction along acarriage guide shaft (not shown) by a driving force of a carriage motor.

The label printer 11 is provided with the ink supply mechanism 60 thatincludes the cartridge mounting unit 14 in which the ink cartridges 12are mounted. The ink supply mechanism 60, which has a longitudinalshape, is erected on the main body frame 30 of the publisher 1 to bearranged in the vertical direction. One end of a flexible ink supplytube 63 is connected to the ink supply mechanism 60 and the other end ofthe ink supply tube 63 is connected to the carriage 62.

Ink of each ink cartridge 12 mounted on the ink supply mechanism 60 issupplied to the carriage 62 through the ink supply tube 63. In addition,the ink is supplied to the ink-jet head 61 through a damper unit and aback-pressure adjusting unit (not shown) provided in the carriage 62 tobe ejected from ink nozzles (not shown).

The ink supply mechanism 60 includes a pressurizing mechanism 64 in theupper portion. In addition, the pressurizing mechanism 64 pressurizesthe inside of each ink cartridge 12 by sending compressed air to supplythe ink stored in an ink pack of each ink cartridge 12.

A head maintenance mechanism 81 is provided below a home position(location shown in FIG. 4) of the carriage 62.

The head maintenance mechanism 81 includes a head cap 82 that covers theink nozzles of the ink-jet head 61 exposed to the lower surface of thecarriage 62 disposed at the home position; and a used ink sucking pump83 that sucks the ink discharged to the head cap 82 by a head cleaningoperation or an ink filling operation on the ink-jet head 61.

The ink sucked by the used ink sucking pump 83 of the head maintenancemechanism 81 is sent to a used ink absorbing tank 85 through a tube 84.

In the used ink sucking tank 85, an absorption material (not shown) isdisposed within a case 86 and an upper surface of the used ink absorbingtank 85 is covered with a cover 88 having plural airing holes 87.

In the lower portion of the head maintenance mechanism 81, a used inkreceiver 89 which is a part of the used ink absorbing tank 85 isprovided so as to receive ink dropped from the head maintenancemechanism 81 and to absorb the dropped ink by the absorption material.

As shown in FIG. 5, below the chassis 32 forming the medium transportingmechanism 31, a fan-shaped toothed gear 112, to which a driving force ofthe driving motor 110 is delivered through a transfer toothed gear 111,is provided so as to be rotatable about the vertical guide shaft 35.With such a configuration, the transporting arm 36 rotates about thevertical guide shaft 35 by a rotational motion of the fan-shaped toothedgear 112 driven by the driving motor 110.

A lower-side horizontal support plate 34 is provided with an opticalrotation HP detector 113 and a stacker location detector 114 whichdetect the ends of the outer edge of the fan-shaped toothed gear 112.The rotation HP detector 113 and the stacker location detector 114detect the location of the transporting arm 36 in a horizontal plane.

Here, the rotation HP detector 113 detects whether in the horizontalplane, the transporting arm 36 is positioned at a location where themedia M are granted and received with the media tray 41 a of the mediadrive 41, a location where the media M are granted and received with themedia tray 45 of the label printer 11, and a location where the media Mis released in the stacker unit 71 (or the media stacker 72) of thedrawing tray 70.

The stacker location detector 114 on the other side detects whether inthe horizontal plane, the transporting arm 36 is positioned at alocation where the media M are granted and received with the mediastackers 21 and 22.

As shown in FIG. 6, a vertical optical HP detector 121 and anintermediate optical location detector 122 are provided in the vicinityof an upper end and an intermediate portion of the chassis 32. Thevertical HP detector 121 and the intermediate location detector 122detect the location of the transporting arm 36 in a vertical direction.

The vertical HP detector 121 in the vicinity of the upper end detectswhether the transporting arm 36 is positioned in the upper location ofthe media stacker 21. The intermediate location detector 122 detectswhether the transporting arm 36 is positioned between the media stacker21 and the media stacker 22.

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 9, a holder 132 is provided on a lower surface inthe vicinity of a front end of the transporting arm 36 to hold the mediaM. The holder 132 is provided with a media guide 133.

Three window portions 133 a are formed in the media guide 133. Inaddition, three holding members 141, 142, and 143 are configured to riseand set in a space within the window portions 133 a.

The three holding members 141, 142, and 143 are inserted into a centralhole Ma of each of the media M, expanded outward in a radial direction,protruded from the window portions 133 a of the media guide 133, andbrought into pressure contact with the inner circumferential surface ofthe central hole Ma of each of the media M to hold each of the media M.

The center of the media guide 133 is matched with a pickup center of themedia M. In addition, the media guide 133 includes a guide portion 135protruding downward in the center of a fixing plate 134 fixed to thelower surface of the transporting arm 36.

The guide portion 135 includes a circularly cylindrical base end portion135 a which has a diameter slightly smaller than the central hole Ma ofthe media M and a guide surface portion 135 b which is formed in asubstantially circular truncated cone shape, of which a diametergradually narrows from the base end portion 135 a downwards towards afront end side. The diameter of a front end of the guide portion 135 ofthe media guide 133 is configured to be inserted into the central holeMa of each of the media M, even when an amount of location deviation ofeach of the media M received in the media stacker 21, the media stacker22, and the stacker unit 71 (or media stacker 72) of the drawing tray 70and a variation of a stop location of the transporting arm 36 are at amaximum.

Here, the guide surface portion 135 b has a media positioning guidesurface A and a media aligning guide surface B that are formedsequentially from a front end side. On the media positioning guidesurface A, an inclined angle α with respect to an axis of the mediumguide 133 is greater than an inclined angle β of the media aligningguide surface B with respect to the axis of the media guide 133. In thisembodiment, the inclined angle α of the media positioning guide surfaceA with respect to the axis of the medium guide 133 is about 40 degreesand the inclined angle β of the media aligning guide surface B withrespect to the axis of the media guide 133 is about 27 degrees. Inaddition, on the assumption that the thickness of the medium M is T, aheight size Ha of the media positioning guide surface A is set to athickness equal to or smaller than the thickness T and a height size Hbof the media aligning guide surface B is set to a thickness equal to orsmaller than the thickness 2T of two media M.

Since the inner diameter of the media stacker 21, the media stacker 22,and the stacker unit 71 (or media stacker 72) of the drawing tray 70 islarger than the outer diameter of the media M, the media M areaccommodated in a scattered manner in a planar direction.

An example in which the media M accommodated in the media stacker 21,the media stacker 22, and the stacker unit 71 (or media stacker 72) ofthe drawing tray 70 are received by the transporting arm 36 will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 10A to 10D.

When the transporting arm 36 moves down to receive the media Maccommodated in the stacked manner, the medium guide 133 firstapproaches the media M and the front end of the medium guide 133 isinserted into the central hole Ma of a first medium of the media M,which is stacked in the uppermost position.

Subsequently, the medium positioning guide surface A in the guidesurface portion 135 b of the medium guide 133 is brought into contactwith the central hole Ma of each of the media M, as shown in FIG. 10A.

Then, when the transporting arm 36 moves down, the first medium M ismoved in the planar direction by the medium positioning guide surface A.

Here, since the medium positioning guide surface A has the greaterinclined angle α with respect to the axis of the medium guide 133, thefirst medium M is moved in a planar direction with the downward movementof the transporting arm 36.

Subsequently, when the transporting arm 36 moves down, the mediumaligning guide surface B is brought into contact with the central holeMa of the first medium M and the medium positioning guide surface A isalso brought into contact with the central hole Ma of a second medium M,as shown in FIG. 10B.

Then, when the transporting arm 36 moves down, the first medium M ismoved in the planar direction by the medium aligning guide surface B andthe second medium M is also moved in the planar direction by the mediumpositioning guide surface A.

Here, since the medium positioning guide surface A has the greaterinclined angle α with respect to the axis of the medium guide 133, thesecond medium M is considerably moved by the medium positioning guidesurface A with the downward movement of the transporting arm 36.However, since the medium aligning guide surface B has the inclinedangle β smaller than inclined angle α of the medium positioning guidesurface A with respect to the axis of the medium guide 133, the firstmedium M is moved by a small movement amount in the planar direction tobe aligned.

When the transporting arm 36 moves down, the medium aligning guidesurface B is brought into contact with the central holes Ma of the firstand second media M and the medium positioning guide surface A is broughtinto contact with the central hole Ma of a third medium M, as shown inFIG. 10C.

Then, with the downward movement of the transporting arm 36, the firstand second media M are moved by a small movement amount in the planardirection by the medium aligning guide surface B, which has the inclinedangle β smaller than the inclined angle α of the medium positioningguide surface A with respect to the axis of the medium guide 133, to bealigned. In addition, the third medium M is considerably moved by themedium positioning guide surface A having the greater inclined angle αwith respect to the axis of the medium guide 133.

When the transporting arm 36 moves down, the circularly cylindrical baseend portion 135 a is inserted into the central hole Ma of the firstmedium M aligned by the medium aligning guide surface B, the mediumaligning guide surface B is brought into contact with the central holesMa of the second and third media M, and the medium positioning guidessurface A is brought into contact with the central hole Ma of a fourthmedium M, as shown in FIG. 10D.

Then, when the transporting arm 36 moves down, the second and thirdmedia M are moved by the small movement amount in the planar directionby the medium aligning guide surface B, which has the inclined angle βsmaller than the inclined angle α of the medium positioning guidesurface A with respect to the axis of the medium guide 133, to bealigned. In addition, the fourth medium M is considerably moved by themedium positioning guide surface A having the greater inclined angle αwith respect to the axis of the medium guide 133.

Subsequently, when the three holding members 141, 142, and 143 areexpanded outward in the radial direction, protruded from the windowportions 133 a of the medium guide 133, and brought into contact withthe inner circumferential surface of the central hole Ma of the firstmedium M to hold the medium M, the transporting arm 36 moves up. In thisway, the first medium M is received and transported by the transportingarm 36.

According to the medium transporting mechanism, as described above, theguide surface portion 135 b of the medium guide 133 has the mediumpositioning guide surface A and the medium aligning guide surface Bsequentially from the front end side, and the inclined angle α of themedium positioning guide surface A with respect to the axis of themedium guide 133 is greater than the inclined angle β of the mediumaligning guide surface B with respect to the axis of the medium guide133. With such a configuration, each of the media M is considerablymoved in the planar direction by the medium positioning guide surface Ahaving the greater inclined angle α with respect to the axis of themedium guide 133 and then each of the media M is able to be exactlyaligned in the planar direction by the medium aligning guide surface Bhaving the smaller inclined angle β with respect to the medium guide133. In this way, it is possible to position the media M satisfactorily,while minimizing protrusion of the medium guide 133.

That is, it is possible to minimize an increase in the size of themedium transporting mechanism, achieve good mobility, and position thestacked media M easily and smoothly.

Since the height size Ha of the media positioning guide surface A is setto the thickness equal to or smaller than the thickness T of each of themedia M, the number of the media M being brought into contact with themedium positioning guide surface A where a load for moving the media Mincreases is able to be set to one. With such a configuration, it ispossible to smoothly position the media M.

The height size Hb of the medium aligning guides surface B may be set tothe thickness equal to or smaller than the thickness 2T of two media M.Advantages obtained from this configuration will be described below withreference to FIGS. 11 to 14.

As shown in FIGS. 10A to 10D, when the stacked media M are deviatedtoward one side with respect to the axis of the medium guide 133, amovement direction of the first medium M is the same as a movementdirection of the second medium M. Likewise, the movement direction ofthe second medium M is the same as a movement direction of the thirdmedium M. Accordingly, the second medium M may be moved in the sameplanar direction, when the medium positioning guide surface A is broughtinto contact with the central hole Ma of the first medium M and thefirst medium M is moved in the planar direction and a frictional forceor a contact force occurs between the first medium M and the secondmedium M, as shown in FIG. 10A. Subsequently, for the same reason asabove, the third medium M may be moved in the same planar direction,when the medium aligning guide surface B is brought into contact withthe central hole Ma of the first medium M, the medium positioning guidesurface a is brought into contact to the central hole Ma of the secondmedium M, and the first and second media M are moved in the planardirection, as shown in FIG. 10B. Accordingly, when the stacked media Mare deviated toward one side with respect to the axis of the mediumguide 133, the frictional force or the contact force exerted between theadjacent media M does not hinder the movement of the media M in theplanar direction.

On the other hand, when the stacked media M are deviated toward bothsides with respect to the axis of the medium guide 133, the movementdirection of the first medium M opposes the movement direction of thesecond medium M, as shown in FIG. 11. Likewise, the movement directionof the second medium M opposes the movement direction of the thirdmedium M. When the transporting arm 36 moves down, the medium aligningguide surface B is brought into contact with a point a of the centralhole Ma of the first medium M, as shown in FIG. 12. Then, the firstmedium M is moved right in the planar direction by the medium aligningguide surface B with the downward movement of the transporting arm 36.

Subsequently, when the transporting arm 36 moves down, the mediumaligning guide surface B is brought into contact with the central holeMa of the first medium M and also brought into contact with a point b ofthe central hole Ma of the second medium M, as shown in FIG. 13. Then,the first medium M is moved right in the planar direction by the mediumaligning guide surface B with the downward movement of the transportingarm 36 and the second medium M is moved left in the planar direction bythe medium aligning guide surface B. At this time, a force applied fromthe medium aligning guide surface B to the point a is distributed into aforce pressing the first medium M right in the planar direction and aforce pressing the first medium M in a downward direction. The forcepressing the first medium M from the upward side causes an increase inthe frictional force or the contact force exerted between the firstmedium M and the second medium M. Moreover, the frictional force or thecontact force caused in this manner and a force pressing the first mediaM right in the planar direction generate a force moving the secondmedium M right in the planar direction. This force hinders the secondmedium M from being moved left in the planar direction. The samerelation is established between the second medium M and the third mediumM. When the stacked media M are deviated toward the both sides withrespect to the axis of the medium guide 133, the frictional force or thecontact force exerted between the adjacent media M hinders the media Mfrom being moved in the planar direction.

When the transporting arm 36 further moves down, the medium aligningguide surface B is brought into contact with a point c of the centralhole Ma of the third medium M, as shown in FIG. 14. At this time, whenthe height size Hb of the medium aligning guide surface B is set to thethickness equal to or smaller than the thickness 2T of two media M, thecylindrical base end portion 135 a is inserted into the central hole Maof the first medium M aligned by the medium aligning guide surface B.Therefore, the force applied from the medium aligning guide surface B tothe point a become zero, the force hindering the second medium M frombeing moved left in the planar direction is decreased. Moreover, theforce hindering the third medium M from being moved right in the planardirection is decreased. When the height size Hb of the medium aligningguide surface B is set to the thickness equal to or smaller than thethickness 2T of two media M, three media M are not simultaneouslybrought into contact with the medium aligning guide surface B.Accordingly, since the force hindering the second and third media M frombeing moved in the planar direction can be suppressed, it is possible tosmoothly position the medium M.

As described above, the inner diameters of the media stacker 21, themedia stacker 22, and the stacker unit 71 (or media stacker 72) of thedrawing tray 70 are larger than the outer diameter of the media M, themedia M are accommodated in such a manner that the media M are scatteredin the planar direction. However, even though the plurality of media Mare accommodated in such a manner that the media M are scattered at mostin the planar direction, the inner diameters of the media stacker 21,the media stacker 22, and the stacker unit 71 (or media stacker 72) ofthe drawing tray 70, the size of the medium guide 133, and the inclinedangle of the medium aligning guide surface B are set so that the mediumaligning guide surface B of the medium guide 133 may be brought intocontact with the central holes Ma of all the stacked media M.

According to the publisher equipped with the medium transportingmechanism, there is provided the medium transporting mechanism 31capable of surely positioning and holding the media M. Accordingly, itis possible to realize the medium processing apparatus with highprocessing reliability.

In the above-described embodiment, the medium guide 133 has thesubstantially circular truncated cone shape, of which the diametergradually narrows from the base end portion 135 a downward towards thefront end side. However, the medium guide 133 may be formed in asubstantially circular cone shape. The medium guide 133 functions aspositioning the media M, as long as the medium guide 133 has the taperedsurface (the guide surface portion 135 b) inclined with respect to theaxis of the medium guide 133. That is, when the medium guide 133 isinserted into the central hole Ma of each of the media M, the taperedsurface is brought into contact with the inner surface of the centralhole Ma of the media M and the respective centers of the media M arepositioned with respect to the axis of the medium guide 133. In thiscase, in order to make the protrusion of the medium guide 133 small, itis preferable that the medium guide 133 is formed in the substantiallycircular truncated cone shape.

In the above-descried embodiment, the central holes Ma of the media Mmay be formed at locations other than the centers of the media M. Thecentral holes Ma of the media M may be formed in any shape other than acircle. The three holding members 141, 142, and 143 are configured to beinserted into the central holes Ma of the media M to be brought intocontact with the inner circumferential surface of the central holes Maof the media M. However, the three holding members 141, 142, and 143 maybe configured to hold the outer circumferential surface of the media M.

The media to be used are not limited to the disc-shaped media such asthe media M described in the embodiment, but may be applied to mediahaving a polygonal shape such as a rectangular shape or an ellipticshape. Moreover, the recording method is not limited to an opticalrecoding method or a magneto-optical recoding method.

The medium transporting mechanism of the present invention is configuredto be able to transport various types of media that have differentthicknesses. In such a case, the height size Ha of the media positioningguide surface A is set so as to be equal to or smaller than a thicknessT of one of the media, the type of which has a minimum thickness.Further, the height size Hb of the medium aligning guide surface B isset so as to be equal to or smaller than a thickness 2T of two of themedia, the type of which has a minimum thickness.

1. A medium transporting mechanism for transporting one of stacked mediaeach of which has a hole, the medium transporting mechanism comprising:a movable transporting arm; a holder provided on the transporting armand holding the one of the media; and a guide provided in thetransporting arm, the guide having a tapered surface that is inclinedwith respect to an axis of the guide, wherein the tapered surface isconfigured to be brought into contact with an inner surface of the holeof the one of the media when the guide is inserted into the hole of theone of the media; wherein the tapered surface includes a first surfaceon a tip end portion of the guide and a second surface on a base endportion of the guide; and wherein an inclined angle of the first surfacewith respect to the axis of the guide is greater than an inclined angleof the second surface with respect to the axis of the guide.
 2. Themedium transporting mechanism of claim 1, wherein a dimension of thefirst surface in a direction parallel to the axis of the guide is equalto or smaller than a thickness of the one of the stacked media.
 3. Themedium transporting mechanism of claim 1, wherein a dimension of thesecond surface in a direction parallel to the axis of the guide is equalto or smaller than a thickness of two of the stacked media.
 4. Themedium transporting mechanism of claim 1, wherein the holder isconfigured to be brought into contact with the inner surface of the holeto hold the one of the media.
 5. The medium transporting mechanism ofclaim 1, wherein the holder includes a plurality of holding members. 6.The medium transporting mechanism of claim 1, wherein the guide isformed into a circular truncated cone shape having a diameter thatgradually narrows from the base end portion thereof toward a tip endportion of the guide.
 7. The medium transporting mechanism of claim 1,wherein the guide is formed into a circular cone shape having a diameterthat gradually narrows from the base end portion to the tip end portionof the guide.
 8. The medium transporting mechanism of claim 1, furthercomprising a stacker that accommodates the media in a stacked manner. 9.The medium transporting mechanism of claim 1, wherein the guide isinserted into the hole of the one of the media when the transporting armis moved down.
 10. A medium processing apparatus comprising: a processoroperable to at least one of read data from, write data on, and executeprinting on the medium; and the medium transporting mechanism of claim1, wherein the medium transporting mechanism transports the one of thestacked media to the processor.
 11. The medium transporting mechanism ofclaim 1, wherein the inclined angle of the first surface is about 40degrees and the inclined angle of the second surface is about 27degrees.